bytt] 



&l)t Erea£urg al 2Sotans. 



186 



of four to five petals twisted in aestiva- 

 tion (flower-bud), sometimes wanting. Sta- 

 mens hypogynous (inserted below the 

 ovary) united into a tube ; anthers opening 

 inwards, two-celled, generally splitting 

 lengthwise. Ovary composed of four to 

 ten carpels, arranged round a central 

 column ; ovules two in each carpel ; styles 

 united below, but branching into four to 

 ten stigmas. Fruit usually a capsule, split- 

 ting through the cells or resolving itself 

 into its original carpels by splitting at the 

 partitions ; seeds albuminous. Chiefly tro- 

 pical or subtropical plants. Lindley gives 

 the following distribution of the tribes in- 

 to which the order is divided i—Lasiopcia lece 

 in Australia ; Hermanniece in South Africa ; 

 D'.rmbeyece in Asia and Africa; Eriolcenecs 

 in Asia; Philippodendrece in New Zealand ; 

 Byttnerece in Asia and America. These 

 plants have mucilaginous qualities. Choco- 

 late and Cocoa are prepared from the seeds 

 (Cacao beans) of Theobroma Cacao, a small 

 tree found in the forests of Demerara. The 

 seeds containatonic substance called theo- 

 bromine, allied to theine, and a fatty oil is 

 expressed from them called the "butter of 

 cacao. From the pulp of the fruit a kind 

 of spirit is distilled. Several of the plants 

 I yield fibres which are used for cordage. 

 There are fifty known genera and about 420 

 species. Illustrative genera: — Lasiopeta- 

 lu m,Byttneria, Theobroma, Eermannia,Dom- 

 beya, Astrapcea, Eriolcena. - [J. H. B.] 



BYTTNERIA. This genus gives its name 

 to the natural family to which it belongs. 

 The species are upwards of fifty, and are 

 widely distributed, being found in India, 

 Java, and Madagascar, in the Old World, 

 and in America as far north as Texas, 

 reaching south to Buenos Ayres, and 

 attaining their greatest number in Brazil. 

 They are very diverse in appearance, some 

 being small erect herbs about one foot 

 high ; others tall straight bushes with 

 winged or angled steins and very narrow 

 leaves ; B. catalpifolia grows to a tree 

 thirty feet high, with long-stalked heart- 

 shaped leaves; but the greater number 

 are scandent prickly bushes, scrambling 

 over other plants as the brambles do in 

 our hedges. The leaves in all the species 

 are simple, and in the greater part more 

 or less heart-shaped in form, with entire 

 or notched margins. The flowers are small, 

 generally dark purple in colour, and ar- 

 ranged in axillary simple or compound 

 umbels. The petals are curiously hooded 

 at the apex, and from the outer surface of 

 the hood grow one, two, or three strap- 

 like appendages. The fruit is a five-celled 

 woody capsule, spherical in form, from 

 half an inch to two inches in diameter, 

 and armed with longer short rigid bristles. 

 Each cell contains one seed. B. heterophyl- 

 la, a native of Madagascar, is often to 

 be found with entire or three-lobed leaves 

 on the same plant; it is an extensive 

 climber, scrambling over the tops of the 

 highest forest trees, and is said to cover 

 nearly the whole slope of the sides of 

 the mountain called Tantinanarivo, and 



to occur nowhere else in the island. The 

 genus is named in honour of D. S. A. 

 Byttner, once professor of botany at 

 Gottingen. [A. A.'B.] 



CAA-APIA. A Brazilian name for Dor- 

 stenia brasiliensis. 



CAA-ATAICA. Vandellia diffusa. 



CAA-CTJA. A Brazilian name for some 

 scrophulariaceous plant. 

 CAA'-TIGUA'. A Brazilian name for 



2Ioschoxylon Catigua, a plant which imparts 

 a bright yellow stain to leather. 



CAAPE'BA. The Brazilian name for 

 the Pareira bram, Cissampelos Pareira, 



CAAPIM DE ANGOLA. Panicum spec- 

 tabile, a fodder grass of Brazil. 



CAAPOMONGA. Plumbago scandens. 



CABALLINE ALOES. Horse Aloes, 



Aloe caballina. 



CABARET. (Fr.) Asarum europmim. 

 — , DES OISEAUX. Dipsacus sylvestris. 



CABBAGE. The common name for 

 Brassica; specially applied to the plane- 

 leaved hearting garden varieties of Bras- 

 sica oleracea. — , DOG'S. Thelygonum 

 Cynocrambe. — , ST. PATRICK'S. Saxifraga 

 umbrosa. —, SKUNK. The fetid antispas- 

 modic SymplocarpiLs foe tidus. 



CABBAGE PALM. Areca oleracea, 



CABBAGE-BARK TREE. The Worm 

 Bark, Andira inermis. 



CABBAGE-TREE. A common name for 

 the genus Areca; also a garden name for 

 Kleinia nerlifolia. — , AUSTRALIAN. 

 Coryplia australis, the leaves of which are 

 made into plait for hats, baskets, &c. 

 — , BASTARD. Andira inermis. 



CABBAGE WOOD. Eriodendron anfrac- 

 tuosum. 



CABEZA DE NEGRO. Negro's head, 

 the Columbian name for the fruit of 

 Phytelephas macrocarpa. 



CABOMBACE^l. (Cabombece ; Sydropel- 

 tideas ; Water-shields.) A natural order of 

 thalamifloral dicotyledons belonging to 

 Lindley's nymphal alliance. Aquatic 

 plants with floating shield-like leaves; 

 sepals and petals three or four, alternating; 

 stamens six to thirty-six. Carpels distinct, 

 two to eighteen; seeds not numerous; 

 embryo in a membranous bag, outside 

 abundant fleshy albumen. The plants are 

 obviously allied to the Water-lilies. They 

 are found in America, from Cayenne to New 

 Jersey, as well as in New Holland. There 

 are two genera, Cabomba and Hydropeltis, 

 which comprise three species. [J. H. B.] 



CABOMBA. A genus of aquatic herbs 

 giving its name to the small order of 

 Cabomba cere. The species are small water 

 plants with shield-shaped entire floating 

 leaves, and finely-cut submerged ones, 

 like those of the common water ranun- 

 culus. The flowers have three sepals, four 



